Tim B

Hi Don, Never seen this one before and like Les, have my doubts on it. Looks somewhat modern with perhaps an artificial patina but I'm certainly no expert on these. Perhaps Demir or others will know more. Tim

Hi Kevin, I know you're traveling so I don't want to impede here but, two quick questions then. 1) In your opinion on the two examples above, are you saying they are genuine period made ribbons? 2) When you have time, can you post some examples showing what the differences are and look like in a side by side comparison? Thanks Kev! Obviously, anyone else can join in with what they know! Tim

Here's a closer shot and its starting to get grainy. I do have another camera that I normally don't use on this stuff but it has more megapixels and can get a sharper image. Thoughts? Tim

I'm still using my old Mavica and the 3.2 megapixel has some limitations but, not too bad IMO. What are you using for a camera? Tim

Hi Dieter, Was playing around with some of my old PIC's today after getting inspired by your recent shots. I tried to reshoot one of my Rising Sun but, I still have that glare problem and will have to readust my angles to get the box Kanji and not make my PIC's appear all washed out. I might have to get away from the black background for these as well, though I do like the overall look. Tim

What is the best way to determine if a ribbon is actually a modern replacement? I see a lot of ODM's that have ribbons that are newer and you can pretty much tell the ribbon has been replaced, but sometimes I see ribbons that look old or more worn and I have to ask myself whether it's original to the medal or if someone made it look that way. I know replacement ribbons are readily available on the market and some sellers really seem not to care, or don't really know one way or the other. Here's a couple I will use as examples. Note the stitching along the edge of the ribbon (reverse). I always thought this was an indication of a modern ribbon, but some are more apparent than others. Should originals have this stitching? Also, what should one look for on the small ring? I thought originals should be steel looking, either silver or blackened silver in color. Any help/thoughts? Thanks, Tim

These are usually in great shape as most were not actually worn (perhaps only 2%) on the uniforms. Here's another "tan" and as you can see, mint unissued. Tim

Very nice! Transitional or slotted/crimped brooch style, anywhere from late WWII to about 1963. Congrats! Tim

I think it will be days, perhaps weeks, before we start to really see the extent here. Here's the city that is missing 9500 people: Minamisanriku sits north a bit from Sendai More here if you can stand to watch it, but it gives a much better idea what extent the devastation is: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12722187

I don't think we have even begun to see the tip of the iceburg yet. Sendai is the main city being discussed in the news but, there are many other small cities that were even closer to the epicenter and closer to the actual coastline. Plus all the little towns/villages and rural areas where people lived. I fear the death toll to go much higher. Tim

Hi Dieter, I guess we should be happy to have what we have at this point as prices will continue to rise. Starting to remind me of German areas of collecting. The one single item that I never figured out is the WWI Victory Medal. We see these listed all the time, so you can't say they are rare by any means and I have a hard time even calling them scarce but, try to get one for less than $100. Doesn't matter if its cased or not or whether the condition is mint or worn...$100.+ or very close to it every time. Then... I seen two for sale recently by a dealer that has his own site and also lists on eBay. One selling for plus $300. and another for over $400.!!! Talk about driving up prices. Tim

Horrific to say the least! I am surprised we haven't heard of any damage north in Hokkaido as the south/east coast faced the epicenter and was fairly close. Sendai is gone and looking at a Google Earth map can see why it suffered so hard. The bay is shaped in a cresent/bowl shape and the force is centered directly into it. Just like we see in Crescent City, California which is always at risk because of a smiliar shape to the bay/harbor. They got hit pretty hard in 1964 and I see downtown got flooded again despite their modern breakwall. Well, lets hope scientists can learn more from this event and my heart goes out to the people of Sendai! Tim

Looks like an original "tan" version. As William stated, the tans versions were not issued but are real. The "olive" CT's are the versions we see actually being worn during wartime. Looks nice and I have a similar one as well, congrats! Tim

Congrats on two nice additions! I see the 6th Class also has the war time issued case (silver lettering)! Do you already have a Tashio era example? Tim

:cheers: Congrats! Pays to shop for sure. On the wrap-brooch example I was watching; no, the medal appeared to be unnumbered, at least I didn't see any and nothing was called out. Tim

Oh, no doubt, I was happy to see no one wanted to go over $9.99! It's near mint and has some lacquer in a couple of spots on the reverse but, other than that, looks great. Now, on the other hand, there are numerous later issue versions, some listing for over $75. That's just crazy IMO but then again, depends on who wants it bad enough. I personally would not have paid near $120. for the wrap-brooch example but there were others that did. SO, in your case, you might find someone that really wants it. Tim :cheers:

Hi, I really don't think you're going to see much difference in pricing honestly, these were pretty common medals and seem to remain abundant, even today. I picked up a nice ring suspension Navy Expeditionary Medal just recently and still paid less than $10. for it, despite finding more modern examples listing for more. The one I got had the ring suspension and crimped style brooch, but there was another one with the wrap brooch that sold recently and it still sold around $120. if I remember correctly and these are harder to find. Guess it all comes down to what someone wants to pay for it at that moment. List it and you'll find out I'm sure. Hope that helps answer your question a bit better. Tim * corrected some prices

Your Army Good Conduct Medal has the slotted brooch and is probably WWII/Korea vintage. This type of brooch was used starting around 1920 as it was more economical to produce from the wrap-style brooches of earlier times. You see this type of brooch used though the early 1960's, where it was finally replaced by the crimped brooch as shown on your Air Force Good Conduct Medal. The crimped style brooch was actually used as early as 1943, though the brooch was wider than those we see on more modern medals post 1947. Keep in mind that these timelines are approximate. Often depends on which medals were talking about and supplies of existing stock were used until depleted, so you could see older style brooches used after the newer style was being produced. Looking at some of the medals you show in your group PIC, I would say the WWII Campaign Medals are probably produced around 1946-48 with the crimped brooch style; most common. You do see the American Defense Medal (not shown in your collection) and WWII Victory Medal commonly on the slot brooch as well but, I have seen very few Asiatic-Pacific or European, African, Middle-Eastern Campaign Medals that have the slotted-brooch style. These would have been the initial ones produced in early 1946. Tim :cheers:

Hi Sarge, Not reproduction per se, but "unofficial" bars produced in France. See the link I previously posted above, as there is an extensive thread on victory medals in general and these French made bars, as well as other types, are discussed. Tim :cheers:

Hi Capt Albert, It's about average IMO. All depends on who is selling it, as I have seen these go from anywhere between $9.99 - $29.99 for a complete boxed set as shown below. Just pays to be paitient as sometimes there are no other bidders and then, bidding wars knock these common service/campaign medals out of the park. Tim

Hi Kevin, Much appreciated! And note, it's not the only example I have seen of this type. Tim :beer:

Hi Dieter! Happens all the time and even if you contact some of these sellers after seeing them continually relist their wares, most won't budge an inch! There will always be "one" that comes along, eventually. Tim

I thought I had asked this before but I guess I didn't. What is the opinion of these style bars shown on this medal bar? I believe they are French produced, but were considered period and not something modern. Tim :cheers:

That's the unpredictability of eBay; you can list an item once and it gets no bids, then you relist it and two or three come in to fight over it and the price realized is more than you expected to orginally sell it for. All comes down to whos looking at the time and who just has to have it. I see it all the time. Tim